Art in Different Places. (Learning About Our Global Community). Robin Johnson. St. Catharines, ON: Crabtree, 2018. 24 pp., pbk., hc. & html, $8.95 (pbk.), $22.95 (List RLB), $18.36 (School RLB). ISBN 978-0-7787-3663-9 (pbk.), ISBN 978-0-7787-3664-7 (RLB), ISBN 978-1-4271-1965-0 (html). Subject Headings: Art-Juvenile literature. Art appreciation-Juvenile literature. Grades 2-3 / Ages 7-8. Review by Suzanne Pierson. **** /4
	New Year Celebrations in Different Places. (Learning About Our Global Community). Robin Johnson. St. Catharines, ON: Crabtree, 2018. 24 pp., pbk., hc. & html, $8.95 (pbk.), $22.95 (List RLB), $18.36 (School RLB). ISBN 978-0-7787-3664-6 (pbk.), ISBN 978-0-7787-3655-4 (RLB), ISBN 978-1-4271-1966-7 (html). Subject Heading: New Year-Juvenile literature. Grades 2-3 / Ages 7-8. Review by Suzanne Pierson. **** /4
	Sports in Different Places. (Learning About Our Global Community). Robin Johnson. St. Catharines, ON: Crabtree, 2018. 24 pp., pbk., hc. & html, $8.95 (pbk.), $22.95 (List RLB), $18.36 (School RLB). ISBN 978-0-7787-3665-3 (pbk.), ISBN 978-0-7787-3656-1 (RLB), ISBN 978-1-4271-1967-4 (html). Subject Headings: Games-Juvenile literature. Sports-Juvenile literature. Grades 2-3 / Ages 7-8. Review by Suzanne Pierson. **** /4
	Toys and Games in Different Places. (Learning About Our Global Community). Robin Johnson. St. Catharines, ON: Crabtree, 2018. 24 pp., pbk., hc. & html, $8.95 (pbk.), $22.95 (List RLB), $18.36 (School RLB). ISBN 978-0-7787-3666-0 (pbk.), ISBN 978-0-7787-3662-2 (RLB), ISBN 978-1-4271-1968-1 (html). Subject Headings: Games-Juvenile literature. Toys-Juvenile literature. Grades 2-3 / Ages 7-8. Review by Suzanne Pierson. **** /4

excerpt:

Catching dreams

Dreamcatchers are part of some Indigenous cultures in the United States and Canada. A dreamcatcher is a hoop with strings shaped to look like a spider web. The Ojibwe people began making this type of art long ago. They hung dreamcatchers above their children’s beds. An Ojibwe legend says that the webs trap bad dreams and keep them away from sleeping children. (From Art in Different Places.)

There are four new books in the “Learning About Our Global Community” series: Art in Different Places, New Year Celebrations in Different Places, Sports in Different Places, and Toys and Games in Different Places.

      Each book begins with a double page spread on the topic “Our Global Community”. This spread includes a map showing different locations around the world and highlighting some of the content that is discussed later in the books. The books then look at similarities and differences about elements of each book’s specific topic: art, New Year celebrations, sports, and toys and games.

      The books all contain a table of contents, index, and glossary. They also contain sections titled “Notes to Educators”, and “Learning More”. The “Notes to Educators” contain open-ended and higher order thinking “Activity Suggestions”.

Invite children to explore the idea that toys and games can have a special cultural significance. Revisit the examples in the book that describe this connection.

Invite children to draw a picture and write a description of a toy or game that has cultural significance to them. (From Toys and Games in Different Places.)

     Information in these books is stated in manageable and organized sections. The text size is large and reader friendly, and the information is enhanced by many colourful photos. The page layout is very attractive.

      The colourful illustrations and photographs in the books are well-chosen to support the text. There is an excellent mix of boys and girls from a variety of ethnic origins in the photographs, with both boys and girls shown being actively engaged in many different activities. One oversight in Toys and Games in Different Places is a picture of Vietnamese boys and girls having a tug of war, mistakenly captioned, “These boys in Vietnam team up to play tug-of-war”. This is a minor mistake in an otherwise well-chosen collection of photographs.

      Art in Different Places includes information on totem poles on Canada’s west coast and inuksuks from Canada’s Arctic. Other types of art include body painting, pottery and tile making, origami, painting, sculpture, and weaving. Several types of art are presented as aspects of different cultures around the world.

      New Year Celebrations in Different Places looks at different New Years celebration traditions and also at the different calendars used to identify when the new year begins.

People in Thailand celebrate Songkran each year. It is a New Year festival that begins on April 13 and lasts for three days. During Songkran, people pour water on statues of Buddha to wash away bad luck. Buddha was the leader of Buddhism, the religion that most people in Thailand follow. Young people pour water over the hands of elderly people as a sign of respect. They also celebrate by splashing each other just for fun.

     Sports in Different Places takes a close look at sports, such as soccer, that are played in many places around the world as well as sports that are played more regionally, or even locally. Hockey is described as Canada’s national sport, and lacrosse is identified as Canada’s national summer sport. Lacrosse is acknowledged as having been invented by Indigenous peoples hundreds of years ago. Other sports will be less familiar to most Canadian students. For example, sepak takraw, or kick volleyball, is played in countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, and Laos. The Special Olympics, Olympics, and Paralympics are all included.

      Toys and Games in Different Places looks at toys and games that are common around the world, such as dolls and tag, and toys and games that are more closely related to a specific part of the world, such as mahjong from China. Some games, such as the dreidel game, are related to a specific religion or culture. Electronic games are also mentioned. Young readers are encouraged to share the experience of playing games with friends and family as well as with the sick or elderly.

      These books in the “learning About Our Global Community” are a pleasure to read and are all worth considering for your young researchers learning about communities at home and around the world. Although not as durable as the library bound versions, a complete set in paperback is worth considering if price is a constraint.

Highly Recommended.

Dr. Suzanne Pierson, a retired teacher-librarian, is currently instructing Librarianship courses at Queen’s University in Kingston, ON.

Next Review | Table of Contents for This Issue - February 16, 2018.
CM Home | Back Issues | Search | CM Archive | Profiles Archive